Taking medication is a common occurrence for many people, whether it is to soothe an aching head, regulate blood sugars, or to treat life threatening conditions, such as HIV or cancer. In the UK alone, over 900 million prescriptions are dispensed every year. Overseeing all of this are pharmacists: experts in medicines and their use.

 

The Integrated Foundations of Pharmacy series supports those who are at the beginning of their journey to become a pharmacist. The reader will begin to understand how a drug molecule is made; the process that turns it into a medicine; the role the pharmacist has when dispensing that medicine; and what happens in the body when it is taken. Most importantly, the series shows how each of these aspects are integrated, reflecting the most up-to-date teaching practices.

 

Pharmacy Practice examines what it means to be part of such an established profession and how this role has developed over time. While dispensing medicine remains a vital part of the job, the book illustrates how pharmacists have an ever-increasing role to play in providing health care, be it prescribing medicine themselves or providing public health advice.

Dr Jason Hall (editor) studied Pharmacy at the University of Strathclyde, before completing an MSc in Clinical Pharmacy at Liverpool John Moores University and a PhD in non-medical prescribing at the University of Manchester. He has worked in community pharmacy for five years, in the NHS as a pharmaceutical adviser for two years and in a further education college teaching chemistry and pharmaceutical science to pharmacy technicians and science students for five years. Jason joined the School of Pharmacy in Manchester in 1999 and is now Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning. Research interests include non-medical prescribing, professional identity and professionalism in pharmacy students.

 

Dr Chris Rostron (series editor) graduated in Pharmacy from Manchester University and completed a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at Aston University. He gained Chartered Chemist status in 1975. After a period of post-doctoral research he was appointed as a lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry at Liverpool Polytechnic. He is now an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. He was a member of the Academic Pharmacy Group Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and chairman for the past 5 years. He is currently chairman of the Academic Pharmacy Forum and deputy chair of the Education Expert Advisory Panel of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He is an external examiner in Medicinal Chemistry at a number of Schools of Pharmacy both in the UK and abroad. In 2008 he was awarded honorary membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for services to Pharmacy education.

1. The profession and practice of pharmacy

2. Organisation of healthcare in the UK

3. Legal and ethical matters

4. Public health

5. Prescribing and dispensing

6. Interaction with other healthcare professionals and patients

7. Behavioural and social sciences

8. Pharmaceutical care